Registration of Home Schoolers 

 Completed

I recently had to tell a Home Schooling Parent that their son could not yet join because he was not yet seven years old, and had to wait another year to join, even though he had completed Kindergarten already. Maybe this is more of a gripe than an idea, but from what I understand, Cub Scout joining requirements are to make sure boys are presented with age-appropriate activities. However, I would suggest that if a boy is able to pass the academic requirements of a certain grade, he has also shown that he is ready to do other stuff in Scouting that is of similar level. Perhaps, HOme Schooling boys could go by the grade rule rather than the age rule. Just a thought. Of course, their parents are generally quite involved in their sons' lives, and often make great volunteers. Thoughts?

The right hand column 

 In Progress

When volunteers fill out the adult application, they almost always seem to forget to fill out the right hand column unless specifically instructed to do so. Could this column be highlighted or at least question number six, so that we don't have to go back to as many folks and say, "oops, you missed this part, but so did everyone else :)"?

Merit Badge Counselor roster changes 

 In Progress

Would it be possible to modify the adult application so we can note which merit badges people are counselors for? This way, when we go to Scoutnet, we could run a report on who the counselors are for and what subjects there are counselors for. Or, even better, we could run a report by merit badge subject to see where we have counselors and where ther are holes for certain subjects.

As it is now, we can get a list of registered merit badge counselors, but this list must be entered into a separate spreadsheet kept by the district and then put in the subject people are counseling for and whether they wish to help out with all troops or just certain ones, etc. Then, when rechartering comes around, this list must be modified. In any case, this can be fairly time consuming. Perhaps a scannable Merit Badge Counselor info sheet would be the way to go? That way, the additional info would be into the national database.

Also, when a person signs up as a Venturing Program Consultant, as it is now, it's the same code for merit badge counselor on the application, so when we run a report, sometimes it's not known if that person is a Program Consultant or Merit Badge Counselor. They are similar, but really different roles. Could a new code possibly be created for Venturing Program Consultants (or Exploring Consultants)?

Centennial Venturing uniform 

now that the new uniform came out, it seems Venturing is stuck in the past. Any possibility of updating the recommended Venturing uniform, too?

Boy Scout to Venturing Crossover 

 In Progress

Why not have a special ceremony developed for Boy Scouts to Venturing? If Venturing really is Scouting's next step, couldn't we have a bridging ceremony at an Eagle Scout ceremony when a boy officially joins a Crew? Also, could we let a Boy Scout get a head start on Venturing advancement with Eagle Scout, or have the first parts of Venturing (Oath, Code, sign, etc.) built into the Eagle Scout award, just like the AO Light does for Boy Scouts? Could we have the transition to Venturing, or even Exploring built into the advancement?...visit a Post or Crew or Ship, or whatever?...

Revised Career/Hobby Interest Survey 

 Completed

The Career Interest survey is divided into clusters, but from what I understand, it is not in the cluster groups that counselors generally recognize. When an executive goes and tries to sell the idea of running the surveys, the information gathered is not as useful to the counselors as it could be. Could we get a group of counselors and scouters together to revise this to make it more in line with what both would benefit from? Also, going from bubble sheets to scannable applications where the machine reads the writing would be an improvement, for sure. When we tell counselors or administrators it will take 10 minutes, sometimes they gasp due to the huge time pressures they are sometimes under. Taking it down to 5 minutes would increase the number of surveys completed.

Venturing National host site 

 Completed

Why not have a national Venturing site that provides templates for Crews to have their own sites. If it had social networking capabilitites, it would be even better. This could be sold as just another program support offered for Venturing or an option in the charter that costs X$ per year. Also, if someone was looking to be a part of Venturing, they could browse this by geographic area, or area of interest. Crews could network themselves at the grassroots level to do activities. National could send notes and notices about events, advertisements could be put out, etc. and this could even function as an e-magazine for the Venturing program, whereas now Boys' Life is trying to do that, but it seems something more is needed. Too many crews are lacking this networking, and they feel alone.

Skype 

Skype is a very useful tool that I've found can help save a lot of money. I just switched my cell plan to 500 minutes from 900 because of it. Here are some of the features Skype offers and how they could be helpful:

Instant messaging: Skype offers instant messaging, but it also has the ability to archive the conversation, unlike MSN instant messenger. It's free to download. Instant messaging is much quicker than sending someone a one or two worded message.

Long Distance Calling: Skype allows the user to make calls from his or her computer over the internet for free to other computers and at very low rates to cell phones and land lines. It has a subscription service where a person can call any land phone in the US for a flat rate of $3 a month. To make this easier, they are marketing through Wal-Mart the 2-in-one phone that lets people use a regular handset phone to make and receive calls either through a landline or through the internet via Skype. So, when I'm home and want to make long distance calls, i use Skype. Imagine how much money this can save. There is a way to set up voicemail with Skype and to assign a caller ID so people know who is calling.

Phone Conferences/video conferences
We spend a lot on phone conferences in my area since we are so spread out. Why not do them on Skype for free? Only the host, really, would have to have a computer. The rest could be on landlines. They could have video conferences with those who have a webcam. Why not call a meeting when people can be on, rather than spend transportation and lodging/food costs, do some training this way, etc?

Sending money via Paypal:
Skype offers the feature of sending money this way to a person's contacts.